HDR: Huron Lightship

Photog4Christ

Here's my first attempt with (the trial version of) Photomatix Pro and I added some Topaz Adjust.

This is the Huron Lightship in Port Huron, Michigan:






(obviously, it appears that I have a smudge on my sensor)

thapamd

Beautiful colors, Neal! In Seattle, we have place with lots of old boats (Center for wooden boats) and this scene reminds me of that place. I've spent many a lazy afternoon wandering through that place. Thanks for bringing back the fond memories.

Photog4Christ

Thank you Mahesh!

"Center for Wooden Boats" sounds like "The Center for Performing Arts"

I'd like to wander that place with you!

Photog4Christ

Any ideas on how to remove that smudge??

run_kmc

Photog4Christ wrote:

Any ideas on how to remove that smudge??

Maybe I'm losing it, but I don't see the smudge.

thapamd

run_kmc wrote:

Maybe I'm losing it, but I don't see the smudge.

He may be talking about the dust bunny in the sky where the line goes through it. I'd do some hard-brushed spot healing at the edges of the spot.

Photog4Christ

run_kmc wrote:

Maybe I'm losing it, but I don't see the smudge.

Photog4Christ

thapamd wrote:

He may be talking about the dust bunny in the sky where the line goes through it. I'd do some hard-brushed spot healing at the edges of the spot.

I just cleaned my sensor last week. Also, I don't really see this in any other images that were taken the same day.

thapamd

Shoot something white or the sky at f/22. I'll wager you'll see the "smudge" again. If you don't, the dust bunny may have fallen off. That dot just looks soooo much like a dust bunny, IMO.

Photog4Christ

thapamd wrote:

Shoot something white or the sky at f/22. I'll wager you'll see the "smudge" again. If you don't, the dust bunny may have fallen off. That dot just looks soooo much like a dust bunny, IMO.

I tried a [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Giotto Rocket, but it just moved the spot around. I'll be past my local pro shop on Sunday and I can stop and pickup some SensorSwabs.
[/FONT]

schmoo

Photog4Christ wrote:

I tried a [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Giotto Rocket, but it just moved the spot around. I'll be past my local pro shop on Sunday and I can stop and pickup some SensorSwabs.
[/FONT]

There should be some threads about sensor cleaning too on Dgrin if you search for them. Good luck and usually dust isn't too hard to clone out... but yours happened to be in a very unfortunate, tricky spot.

Photog4Christ

schmoo wrote:

There should be some threads about sensor cleaning too on Dgrin if you search for them. Good luck and usually dust isn't too hard to clone out... but yours happened to be in a very unfortunate, tricky spot.

Yup, exactly!

dseidman

Here's what I managed to come up with. It took me about a minute and to my eyes it looks like the spot is gone.

First, I carefully selected the spot with the lasso tool, making sure I got every bit that I could. I then feathered the selection by a few pixels to make the transition not look so rough. Next, I opened up the levels dialogue box and dragged the middle slider to the spot where the spot was the least visible (in this case the value was about 1.15). After doing this, I cleaned up the edges a bit with the clone tool, careful not to cover up the cable on the ship. I hope this helps!

whiterice

Looks like there might be one more smudge on the upper right hand corner too.

Very nice HDR!

Doug Solis

Nice shot, this looks more realist than HDR-ish if you know what I mean, and that is a compliment. I also like Topaz adjust. Did you try and run just Topaz by itself, you may not need multiple images on this one...not sure the dynamic range warrants it??

The other problem with HDR is it creates a lot of noise.. see if you can clear some of that up, it will improve the image.

Photog4Christ

Doug Solis wrote:

Nice shot, this looks more realist than HDR-ish if you know what I mean, and that is a compliment. I also like Topaz adjust. Did you try and run just Topaz by itself, you may not need multiple images on this one...not sure the dynamic range warrants it??

The other problem with HDR is it creates a lot of noise.. see if you can clear some of that up, it will improve the image.

Doug:

Thank you very much for the compliment!

Yes, I did try Topaz on just one image, but it really needs the HDR. The HDR really makes the difference, especially on the clouds.

Danny gave me some tips, which I am going to try when I have some time. I'm still a "beginner" when it comes to PS, so I'm going to try my best.

houstonphoto85

I use photoshop patch tool

Photog4Christ wrote:

Any ideas on how to remove that smudge?? i normally use the photoshop patch tool

Photog4Christ

So, did I get it?